Small suggestions. Easily implemented ideas, quickfire thoughts.

[Randomthom]

Oh... and loading screen tips to show in the dialogue history. I have a fast computer & I often miss what is written in them.

[Samb84]

As Hormalakh said, be able to dye your armor!

 

And I would want a bookshelf view, always found it strange that when an entire bookshelf is seen with books you are only able to read one or two of them... Think this could be better..

[Lephys]

As Hormalakh

said, be able to dye your armor!

 

And I would want a bookshelf view, always found it strange that when an entire bookshelf is seen with books you are only able to read one or two of them... Think this could be better..

I kinda like how in old-school turn-based RPGs, sometimes you'd be able to read about 50-60 books in a library, but your character would basically open it up and skim it for some tidbit. Usually it would be something informative about a creature, or place in the world, or some hint as to the location of some ruins, etc.

 

This was overly simplified, as these were much simpler games, but I think it wouldn't be preposterous to be able to read many, many books in a book-lined room, but have most of them only provide small glints of information. Think of it like a Skill check. "Your character read through this book for an hour, and this is what they managed to find that was of any use or relevance to anything that they know of."

Edited May 15, 2013 by Lephys

[Samb84]

 

As Hormalakh

said, be able to dye your armor!

 

And I would want a bookshelf view, always found it strange that when an entire bookshelf is seen with books you are only able to read one or two of them... Think this could be better..

I kinda like how in old-school turn-based RPGs, sometimes you'd be able to read about 50-60 books in a library, but your character would basically open it up and skim it for some tidbit. Usually it would be something informative about a creature, or place in the world, or some hint as to the location of some ruins, etc.

 

This was overly simplified, as these were much simpler games, but I think it wouldn't be preposterous to be able to read many, many books in a book-lined room, but have most of them only provide small glints of information. Think of it like a Skill check. "Your character read through this book for an hour, and this is what they managed to find that was of any use or relevance to anything that they know of."

 

I agree completely would be a great way to do it!

[motorizer]

 

 

As Hormalakh

said, be able to dye your armor!

 

And I would want a bookshelf view, always found it strange that when an entire bookshelf is seen with books you are only able to read one or two of them... Think this could be better..

I kinda like how in old-school turn-based RPGs, sometimes you'd be able to read about 50-60 books in a library, but your character would basically open it up and skim it for some tidbit. Usually it would be something informative about a creature, or place in the world, or some hint as to the location of some ruins, etc.

 

This was overly simplified, as these were much simpler games, but I think it wouldn't be preposterous to be able to read many, many books in a book-lined room, but have most of them only provide small glints of information. Think of it like a Skill check. "Your character read through this book for an hour, and this is what they managed to find that was of any use or relevance to anything that they know of."

 

I agree completely would be a great way to do it!

 

all the books in elder scrolls games are readable, one thing they do always get right

[motorizer]

Similar to the announcement that Wasteland 2 will keep weapons relevant throughout the game, I'd like there to be a valid reason to hold onto that signature weapon.  Having watched Crisis Core and currently playing through FF7, it's a great touch to learn that a modder has made the buster sword gradually increase in power through use. 

I appreciate the concept of finding a +1 weapon, but it feels like cheating.  If I could melt that +1 sword down though and use the metal to craft/add a guard to my sabre (giving bonus to ac) it would feel more legitimate / aid roleplaying.  For me anyway.

I agree, same goes for armour, I hate it when your stuff which was good somehow becomes useless because you character has gained some levels

 

By all means give the fancy stuff bonuses but keep the general basic items viable, possibly through familiarity, has anyone played silent storm? if you kept using a weapon in that you became more familiar and got better with it, again this could apply to armour as well. Adds a small choice too. Do i use this new fancy sword thing, or do I keep my old faithful stuff that I'm comfortable with?

[Lephys]

all the books in elder scrolls games are readable, one thing they do always get right

This is true, but, as a result you had a world populated by copies of about, what... 60 books? (Well, in Skyrim, at least). So, you kinda trade one thing for another. I love when books are fully hashed out and readable, but I worry that it would be impossible to have even ONE small library full of actually-unique books that are all fully readable (without costing the game development quality in other areas), much less several libraries, etc.

 

That's why I think it might be a good idea to have it be abstracted and understood that your character can read many of the books, but that there's not enough relevance in them to convey it first-hand to the player (that way, you can have oodles of believable books in the world, without having to write oodles of full, believable books).

 

Also, you could have things like grammar books, and philosophy books. You know, things that aren't even really lore-related (aren't informative to the player about the game world, so much as they are a layer of depth, themselves, to the game world) without having to take the time to invent and write 100 pages of thoughts on existentialism by some philosopher in the P:E world.

 

Annnnnywho, I'm typing way too much here for the "small suggestions/quickfire thoughts" thread, haha. I stop now.

[Naesh]

I have one more idea, it's a sidequest. 

The main character could be killed somewhere in the story.

It would be nice to make this event look like it's avoidable, when it isn't. So, the place of the actual event should vary from play to play.  

After the pc is killed, the rest of the party proceeds with the story, everyone for their own reasons. (so, the player will control them)  

There could be someone to step into the shoes of the pc and become the leader of the party.  

Later they find out, that the main pc wasn't actually killed, but trapped into an other dimension / something, so they go and save him.

Once it's done, everything is back to normal.

[Lephys]

I have one more idea, it's a sidequest. 

The main character could be killed somewhere in the story.

It would be nice to make this event look like it's avoidable, when it isn't. So, the place of the actual event should vary from play to play.  

After the pc is killed, the rest of the party proceeds with the story, everyone for their own reasons. (so, the player will control them)  

There could be someone to step into the shoes of the pc and become the leader of the party.  

Later they find out, that the main pc wasn't actually killed, but trapped into an other dimension / something, so they go and save him.

Once it's done, everything is back to normal.

 

Chrono Trigger style! 8D

[Cathbadhian]

I would like ancient dungeons that haven't been seen for centuries to, you know, not be actually lit with torches everywhere. (Skyrim I'm looking at you) Rather allow your characters to light the path ahead of you; think of the dynamic character shadows a newly lit torch would cast on the walls as you realise you not alone. Whether that is done by the use of sconces on the wall or a light spell, that would be cool, thinking of gandalf's staff when in the mines of moria.

This. Every time I find a dungeon lighted, I always puzzle over who is replacing their fuel every few hours in a centuries old underground cavern filled to overflowing with monsters. Mystical lighting doesn't have that issue, we can assume magic is infinite.

[JFSOCC]

I was thinking, maybe armour class could increase stamina consumption of abilities. that way, everyone can have any armour, and everyone has to make a weighed decision whether the defence is worth the adjusted stamina costs for their abilities.

[Lephys]

This. Every time I find a dungeon lighted, I always puzzle over who is replacing their fuel every few hours in a centuries old underground cavern filled to overflowing with monsters. Mystical lighting doesn't have that issue, we can assume magic is infinite.

Obviously, some old, mad Wizard developed the Flame of Eternal Burnitude, and made oodles of money by selling it to all the dungeoneers throught the land. Afterwards, they killed him off, took their money back, and re-dubbed the technology Infini-Bright.

[Eiphel]

 

This. Every time I find a dungeon lighted, I always puzzle over who is replacing their fuel every few hours in a centuries old underground cavern filled to overflowing with monsters. Mystical lighting doesn't have that issue, we can assume magic is infinite.

Obviously, some old, mad Wizard developed the Flame of Eternal Burnitude, and made oodles of money by selling it to all the dungeoneers throught the land. Afterwards, they killed him off, took their money back, and re-dubbed the technology Infini-Bright.

 

The mage who invented endless magical light for dungeons and got stiffed out of royalties would be such a great quest hook...

[eremita]

I would really appreciate useful spears in PE... Come to think of it, nobody (as far as i know) really incorporate spears as deadly weapon (cause swords are awesome, m'kay) to video games. Combination of one-handed spear and shiled is really deadly/effective, just look at Spartans/Ancient Warriors generally. And making them also a throwing weapons would be cool (adding some interesting alternatives for ranged warriors or secondary weapons for melee ones).

[laxtonto]

Just some stream of conciousness ideas...

 

I love weather in these types of games, but I would like to see it actually have some form of impact. Make a section of the map inaccessable in a driving rainstorm due to the river overflowing. Allow an intense draught to dry up a pond to show a lost chest. Have  sandstorms actually cloud your vision. Make things like lightning to be a legit worry if you are incased in steel walking across a flat open plain.

 

Can we finally add some better "evil" skiills to manipulate the overall world? Crafting items and selling them can be used as a way to create income and can easily follow on the path of good characters, but why not allow me to instead learn to counterfit items or currency? Make it essentially have the cost to do as item creation and the same general payout ,based upon a risk/reward creation style, but allow it to better match my character's more nefarious leanings. Crafting is really just either a gold sink for high level useful items or a way to provide characters revenue at lower levels with easier to craft items. Why not allow evil characters or rogeus to benefit the same way. Let them craft fakes that are easily introduced into the economy for a payday at lower levels of diffuclty and also craft much more intricate much more expensive fakes when trying to steal something of great value that can be then traded to the person commissioning the theft for an item of benefit or maybe just stashed in thier stronghold as an item showing thier greatness as a theif.

 

Why not show some variation when dealing animal companions that actually make sense in the world. Why is it a generic wolf when something as intersting as a panther or as simple as a mastiff can add some simple spice to a boring generic concept. Let me pick my animal companion and have that pick have an impact on whether that companion can be in town with me. I have always thought it silly to have someone that can have an animal companion and then just freely walk through town with a drie wolf at thier side an no one freak out. Same can be said for familars as well.

 

 

Houses... I want to go into all of them... I want to break in any door.. Sorry, just me, but the barred from the inside door is maddening to me. Why can't I instead then just push up the window? Same with cellars and for that matter any opening.

[rjshae]

 

 

This. Every time I find a dungeon lighted, I always puzzle over who is replacing their fuel every few hours in a centuries old underground cavern filled to overflowing with monsters. Mystical lighting doesn't have that issue, we can assume magic is infinite.

Obviously, some old, mad Wizard developed the Flame of Eternal Burnitude, and made oodles of money by selling it to all the dungeoneers throught the land. Afterwards, they killed him off, took their money back, and re-dubbed the technology Infini-Bright.

The mage who invented endless magical light for dungeons and got stiffed out of royalties would be such a great quest hook...

 

One possibility is to make such a spell require a relatively uncommon material focus. This would make it at least somewhat costly to implement on a large scale. Another is to put in a prohibition that would require either certain conditions or else maintenance by a wizard.

 

Here's one method: the eternal flame requires a flawless crystalline focus to serve as a containment vessel. The lowest cost material for this purpose is a crystal of quartz of at least the size of a thumbnail. The larger the crystal, the brighter and more durable the light. In order for the light to function, it must draw upon the surrounding darkness. Thus, the spell must be cast in dark conditions and be kept isolated from bright light sources. (In actuality this could be ultraviolet light sources.) The ideal conditions for this are deep underground, away from sunlight. A particular hazard is a spell that can reproduce sunlight; these can snuff out the flame if they are cast too close to the crystal.

 

There may be rumors of a spell that can protect the crystal from extinguishing light sources. But the cost of casting this spell is high.

[Chippy]

i was thinking of a detailed awaresness feat/ability.  Something more complicated than NWN1 where an enemy was coloured (purple I think) at hardest difficulty - but not exactly that I think as it only railroads the player into avoiding encounters.  But maybe for Rangers or Thieves, they could spot the vorpal weapon carried by a fighter, or the markings on the cloak of a mage that specialises in summoning - just that little somethin that tips the player off with enough info that they can prepare a bit, without making it easy.

 

Then at least when I encounter the RPGCodex party I can prepare for their miniguns and nuclear warheads.

Edited June 13, 2013 by Chippy

[JR.9613]

Spell/Special Ability/Potions/Consumable Queue. It could work in real time or while paused and would probably help a whole lot with magic users.

[Lephys]

- Weapon/equipment concealment. From daggers up the sleeve that the guards can't spot to that walking stick that's actually a sword-and-scabbard. Maybe even rare illusion enchantments that hide an item's true nature. Of course, then you run into the question "what makes them rare?", yet, if they're plentiful and easy, then why would a lack of concealment EVER be a problem? 8P

 

- The ability for multiple casters to cast in conjunction to produce an effect similar to metamagic feats in D&D: More potency, greater duration, quicker cast time, etc.

 

- Party-knowledge-based looting. Instead of just equipment (and magic items) showing up as unidentified, any sufficiently specific item of which your party has insufficient knowledge should simply show up as the basic item type. No one in your party have any plant lore? "Nightshade Berries" should simply show up as "berries." For that matter, magic items shouldn't automatically show up as "unidentified" unless you've passed some kind of "sense magic" check on them. Maybe anything below a certain difficulty rating would just be passively sensed. Otherwise, you'd have to check to see if that ring you found is actually magic. It could even be as simple as a sort of "detect magic" spell that you could cast, then look through your inventory. Anything within your character's abilities would show up as magic. Or, maybe even just a sort of magical perception check when you pick up the items.

Edited June 15, 2013 by Lephys

[JR.9613]

- Party-knowledge-based looting. Instead of just equipment (and magic items) showing up as unidentified, any sufficiently specific item of which your party has insufficient knowledge should simply show up as the basic item type. No one in your party have any plant lore? "Nightshade Berries" should simply show up as "berries." For that matter, magic items shouldn't automatically show up as "unidentified" unless you've passed some kind of "sense magic" check on them. Maybe anything below a certain difficulty rating would just be passively sensed. Otherwise, you'd have to check to see if that ring you found is actually magic. It could even be as simple as a sort of "detect magic" spell that you could cast, then look through your inventory. Anything within your character's abilities would show up as magic. Or, maybe even just a sort of magical perception check when you pick up the items.

 

After reading this I thought that a "shared" inventory space between party members might be interesting. You would pull up a character's inventory screen and transfer an item(s) between party members without having to drop an item, move the character, and have another character pick it up. Those two things combined would be useful.

[Chippy]

Just adding to my previous post, but for thieves to have an awareness of the potential gain for stealing would be cool.  I get the impression developers groan at the thought of implementing stealing as it's gradually faded over the years, but if I had a rough idea of the potential gain I might be tempted to turn an entire town hostile and spam the reload button.

[Lephys]

After reading this I thought that a "shared" inventory space between party members might be interesting. You would pull up a character's inventory screen and transfer an item(s) between party members without having to drop an item, move the character, and have another character pick it up. Those two things combined would be useful.

I think that, functionally (as far as the player's access to the inventories is concerned, at least), there already is a shared inventory space in the design. I think, basically, instead of saying "I want to equip 5 potions with Sairi, but wait! Edgard is carrying those potions! Hang on... lemme open up both their inventories and move the potions over, THEN equip them," you'll just be able to access the "shared" items with any given character at any given time (granted, you'll still have to actually have them equipped to gain in-combat access).

 

Whether this is simply direct access to the entire party's individual inventories, all of which are always conveniently displayed in the UI right next to each other in a "shared" UI space, or whether they're functionally being considered "carried by everyone" at the same time, I'm not sure, off the top of my head. I seem to recall the details being that they're still actually divided between people, but the UI eliminates all the opening-separate-windows-and-swapping-things-between-them-when-you're-not-really-worried-about-who's-carrying-stuff-anyway-because-you-just-want-to-equip-something-ness that goes on in other systems. The "infinite" stash doesn't seem to have any real, significant weight/size limitations, but the shared pack, I believe, does (they've merely stated that it will be "limited," so I don't know precisely how). So, I think it actually is just a sort of consolidation of each individual party member's inventory spaces. You can simply access "shard pack" now, instead of individually having to open up two different people's inventory windows, then dragging things in between them to interact with both at once.

[brownypoints]

Save and Exit to desktop from   game in one click.

Continue from last save desktop shortcut.

[rjshae]

Suppose your character has recruited N companions, and, of those, you can take along up to 5 on a particular mission. The remaining N - 5 are presumably standing guard over your stash. It would be interesting if those N - 5 guards (plus your hirelings) occasionally had to fight off some brigands, bandits, or scavengers. Not frequently mind you, but at least some percentage of the time and then only when you're on your way back to the camp.

[Tuckey]

When the party has an all rogue party or maybe at least 3 rogue's it allows the thieves to pull off group actions i.e.

 

Mislead ~ distract a mark while the other thief cut's their purse/robs their house etc

Waylay ~ one thief plays the victim calling for help while the others' prepare an ambush

Disguise ~ Using disguises the rogue's carry out an elaborate con to relieve the mark of their belongings/infiltrate a building etc.

 

Would add interesting role-playing options but probably outside the scope of this game. Thinking of robin hood, it would be fun to play a band of brothers like that.